The Puppet Cat
by Azure-VortexDragon
Summary: He had delved too deep. Now they were after him. The least he could do now was let go of his magnum opus. The mastercraft, his final piece on this earth… A mysterious cat finds her way into the forest leaving the four clans confused. Who was this she-cat? Why could she do so many unexplainable things? And was it just a coincidence that as soon as she arrived, twolegs did so too?


_**Prologue: Discovery**_

* * *

"Come on! Let's go Leafkit!"

The sun shone brightly in the sky causing glimmering sparkles in the canopy above. The birds sung with charisma, chirping to the light, warm breeze. The melancholy of the surrounding was only to be disturbed by the rustling of leaves and bracken as the orange kit blazed through the undergrowth. With a loud yowl, she smiled. She felt free, like the wind. Carried by the currents of energy and the warmth of the sun. It was her first time out of camp, an adventure for her as a kit. She loved the prospect of danger and the excitement of discovery. She knew it was forbidden for her to leave the camp but regardless she did. She could not stand any longer, cooped up in such a small world when a much larger one existed but a few tails away. She stuck out her tongue in a gag, what a waste of a lovely world if you were just confined within a small area right? She purred as the sun rays dappled down her orange pelt, lighting them up like a roaring flame. It was exhilarating, a dream come true! Now if only she could convince her partner in crime to enjoy it as much as she did.

She whipped around to face her sister, Leafkit. The grey kit wailed as she struggled to keep up through the thick shrubbery, "Wait up Squirrelkit!"

Squirrelkit rolled her eyes at her sister. She was slow and wasn't built for these adventures. But they were sisters and as sisters, they did everything together, "Hurry up slowpoke!"

Leafkit wailed again as she sprinted up to meet her. The grey kit was out of breath, huffing and wheezing as she collapsed to the forest floor in weariness.

"Tired already?!" Squirrelkit huffed impatiently, shaking her head.

"Wah!" Leafkit cried, "You run too fast!"

"Running fast is a good trait! What if a badger came to eat us?" Squirrelkit retorted, flicking her sister's head with her paw.

"Speaking of which…" Leafkit responded, as she rubbed her head where her sister had flicked her off, with a paw, "Are you sure this is safe? I mean the warriors and mum and dad always warn us that outside the camp it's dangerous and that we have to wait until we're old enough to defend ourselves before we can go out."

Squirrelkit frowned, waving her tail in displeasure, "It's fine! It's not like any predator would want to eat us, it's greenleaf! There are so many easier prey out there anyways!"

She padded back up to her sister and put a tail on her back, "Besides! We can defend ourselves, so we should be allowed to be out! Unless of course, you don't think you have a warrior heart."

Squirrelkit blinked innocently at her sister knowing that she had to relent to that. Leafkit was always insecure about not having what it takes to be a warrior. It was pretty cruel in her opinion, Squirrelkit thought, but it had to be done for the adventures and explorations!

Leafkit silently nodded, pulling herself back up again, "Alright then."

"Aw yeah! Now it's time to do some exploring!" Squirrelkit screeched in giddy glee. She bounced around on her paws as she waved her tail sporadically. Her joy was pretty visible to Leafkit as she just sighed and flattened her ears.

"Anyways! We should begin by going to the…" Squirrelkit paused in suspense as she glanced at Leafkit hanging onto her very words, "**_Stinky place!_**"

"What?" Leafkit pondered in confusion, her eyes sparkling with her thinking.

Squirrelkit giggled as she saw her sister's reactions. She had always overthought things, "Foxbrain! The stinky place is the Shadowclan border duh! Don't you remember when dad brought home that horrifying stench? You were literally crying from disgust!"

Leafkit stuck out her tongue and trembled, "That was awful! Why are we going there first?!"

Squirrelkit's eyes glimmered as she whipped around to face her sister with focused eyes of thrill, "Because I want to see a monster!"

"A monster?!" Leafkit gasped. Her tail dropped to the soft earth below as she trembled, rattling about, churning the earth into a small depression under her paw, "Like those beasts that mum always talks about in the stories?!"

Squirrelkit smiled, eyes shimmering, "Yeeeeeeep! And we're going there now!"

"But wait! Don't the elders always say that they can kill in a single bite?!" Leafkit trembling continued to exacerbate as she bit her tongue, "I don't think this is a good idea…"

Squirrelkit rolled her eyes at her terrified sister, clearing her throat before starting again, "Don't you worry! I've heard they only stay on this mythical Thunderpath. As long as we stay off it, we'll be fine!"

She whipped her head in impatience as she began padding off without her sister, "Now hurry up! Or I'm going without you."

Leafkit mewled in fear under her breath before following suit quickly. Squirrelkit was going to see a monster. No matter what was in her way!

* * *

The sunny rays that had once tore through the canopy, bathing the light, green forest floor with warmth, turned into a dark, fine mist that hovered just above the forest floor, dying the forest floor grey. Around her, the trees were rotting. Few leaves, bare branches. Even the undergrowth began changing colours, from fertile green to sour yellow, until it became deathly brown. The once proud, brilliantly shining sun, dipped and waned in brightness, becoming but a pitiful speck of soft light. Squirrelkit gulped, she had certainly not expected the forest around the Thunderpath to be a wasteland, but it was just that. The grass was decayed, the ground was churned and rough like stone, eating away at what little vegetation was left. Beside her, Leafkit was trembling as she tugged on tight to her. Roaring sounds with a quick whiplash of wind, reverberated towards them. No doubt, they were closing in onto the mythical Thunderpath.

Squirrelkit's paws were starting to ache. The ground was not like the soft forest soil of before nor was it covered by a warm and fluffy blanket of bracken undergrowth. All that was remaining on the earth below was rough and dense clayed earth with the blanket of leaves being replaced by cold, displeasing mist. The fog grew thicker as they approached the origins of the roars. Each whiplash following the roar of a monster, sending ever more shivers down the pair's backs. Squirrelkit's fur had pricked up as she padded closer to the terrifying growls of the monsters of the Thunderpath. She could not even begin to imagine how any cat, let alone an entire clan, could live out here in such conditions. Perhaps the smell wasn't the most concerning thing about the Shadowclan cats. If they could live in this environment, what monsters could they themselves be like? Squirrelkit was trembling with trepidation at this thought. She shook herself out of fear. Now was no time for cowardice. She had to be brave to inspire her sister to do the same. Squirrelkit looked over to her. So far, she was still trembling and frightened, growing ever so more as they approached the gut-wrenching sounds. Yet she continued, determined to follow her sister. Squirrelkit smiled, that was why she loved her sister so much.

Finally, they burst out of the thick mist onto the large expanse in front of them. A gritty ground lay in front of them tough and pointy, like claws planted onto stone. Squirrelkit stepped back, was this the mythical Thunderpath she was told about? It was huge, wide, black patch of ground that went on into the distance, too far away to see. She was shocked by just how massive it was and terrified by its mysterious nature. She turned around to face her sister. She too was aghast by it, shivering from the overwhelming presence of the colossal size of it.

"W…wow."

Her fear turned to excitement, to adrenaline. She was intrigued, entranced and mystified at such a place. She could only stifle the urge of jumping forth and exploring. Her paws ached in impatience as the ever-hungry urge devoured through her. She bunched her legs together ready to jump forth, further into the black earth.

Just as she was about to jump, Leafkit piped up, her voice shallow and wavering, "A…are you sure this is s…safe? What about the m…monsters?"

Squirrelkit smiled back at her, gesturing with her tail to come with, "Don't worry! Monsters are loud anyways, if we hear them, we'll just run away."

Leafkit murmured under her breath and placed paw forward to her. Her eyes were laced with dark pools of terror. Squirrelkit knew she was always a stickler for the rules, but she would always be next to her. They were sisters forever.

"Now then, let's get exploring! There's a lot of stuf…" Squirrelkit was interrupted by a loud gasp and a following screech.

"Squirrelkit! Look out!" Leafkit yowled at her.

Squirrelkit's ears perked up as she glanced upwards to her left. Loud screeches, the roar of thunder. A boom was heard as a monster barrelled down the Thunderpath straight towards her. Time froze as her mouth went agape at the oncoming behemoth. She couldn't move, frozen to the floor, terrified. The monster was huge, four large, round, dark paws with two piercing eyes that flared in the dark mist. Silver bark covered its body, reflecting the dim light of the sun. It charged towards her as Squirrelkit trembled.

_It's a real monster._

_A monster._

_A true monster._

_How could Starclan let something like this exist._

She looked back over at her sister, sprinting towards her. Squirrelkit's eyes widened, was she insane? She was going to die as well!

"Squirrelkit no!" Leafkit pounced towards her, intending to block her from the monster.

"Leafkit don't!" She yowled back, panic gripping her voice at her sister's insanity. She couldn't let her sister die for her dumb actions. How could she have thought this was safe?!

She closed her eyes, warm, wet tears streaking down her face as she waited for her impending death.

_How could she have promised Leafkit that this was fine?_

Her mind went blank as the darkness swirled in. The despair of her stupidity flowing in as she screamed at herself. She had doomed both her and her sister. They would both die here today because of her actions.

_Oh, please Starclan, spare her soul at least!_

Suddenly, she felt strong paws gripping her, pushing her backwards as she slowly reopened her eyes. She was flying away from the Thunderpath at the speed of wind along with her sister, pushed away as the monster barrelled straight through where they had once been.

**_Bam!_**

A loud **thunk** was heard as she got up and looked around her. Leafkit was thrown to the brown grass, dazed by what had happened. Squirrelkit was also confused. What had happened? She looked back over to the Thunderpath, the monster long gone now. What left of the scene was a raggedy clump of white fur. A torn and shredded mess that lay on the ground, just a few foxtails away from where the pair had just been.

As Squirrelkit looked closer, her eyes widened in disbelief and anxiety. That was not just any clump of fur, that was an alive cat. She dropped down to her paws, frightened that a cat had just died in front of them. _For us. No, for me._

She slowly crawled towards that corpse, trembles in her paws. As she was about to put a paw back onto the Thunderpath, another roar sounded from behind her.

_Another monster?!_

She swirled around, glancing to where the sound had originated from. Her ears perked up and her paws, shaking ever further.

_No, this was not from the Thunderpath. So what was it…_

She gasped. A large black and white beast towered above Leafkit, thick, massive paws raised above her petite body. A badger.

Squirrelkit froze again at its large stature, a towering presence. A frightful presentation. She had heard about these beasts in the stories from elders and her mother. Never had she thought anything about it. But now she knew better. A ginormous beast with the power to kill any cat and then some. She stood no chance against one of them. Neither did Leafkit. Squirrelkit could not save Leafkit from her death to the paws of the badger.

Squirrelkit wallowed in despair. Even though Leafkit had tried to save her by running into the charging monster, she could not even bring to her even an ounce of that same bravery. How could she even begin to believe she could be a warrior. Leafkit was more a warrior than her, she had the bravery to throw herself in, to sacrifice herself for her. And what could she do? Wallow around in pitifulness.

Was this Starclan's cruel games to punish her for breaking the rules and sneaking out? Kill everyone that attempted to save her because of her dumb actions. She sunk into a pit of despair at the prospect of this thought, dropping back down to her paws once again. They would leave her alive, a forever scar etched into her mind, a forever lesson.

She was too weak. She was too stupid. She killed her sister and a stranger that had saved them both.

_Yes… Killed them… Both…_

The badger's paws slammed down fast, whisking through the air about to pummel Leafkit's body. Squirrelkit could not even bring herself to close her eyes or look away. She needed the pain of her sister's death to forever remind her. Just as the badger's claws were about to dig themselves into her sister's body. A sharp twang heard, then another bam!

White clumps of fur floated before Squirrelkit's eyes, resting on her nose as she looked over shocked. Her eyes trembling and watering. The same she-cat that had lay on the ground, hit by the monster. The same cat she had assumed was dead. Lay in front of her, her back pummelled by the strong, badger's paws, twisted backwards as her tail straightened stiff from the impact and her mouth and eyes widened from the pain. Saliva mixed with blood spluttered out from the cat's mouth, her dark eyes displaying the tremendous amount of pain she was in as she was smashed into the hard ground.

Her body barely missed Leafkit, smashing down onto the dead grass and rolling mousetails away from the badger. Squirrelkit's mouth widened in shock. She did not know what to think. Her mind going blank from shock, exhaustion, terror and adrenaline.

She looked over at the white cat laying flat on the floor. Surely, she was now dead right? She had bought them time, yet even now, Squirrelkit couldn't react. She could not muster up any courage nor steel herself to gather Leafkit and scramble. She wailed in remorse, another sacrifice by her that she could not take advantage of. She could not even make use of the time she had bought with her life.

But Squirrelkit's tears dried up quickly as the she-cat shockingly stood up, her whole body trembling in pain. Eventually she stood up, her face tilted down to the ground, her eyes invisible, hidden behind red tufts of fur covering her face. The she-cat tilted her neck, a loud crack reverberated through the still mist. The atmosphere became tense as even the badger stood back.

The she-cat muttered beneath her breath as Squirrelkit strained to hear her. The cat growled as she bunched up her leg muscles.

"I said!" She pounced at the badger with a large wave of wind knocking Squirrelkit back as she ascended, "I'm going to kill you, you stupid, weak, detestable mutt!"

The she-cat flew at the badger smashing right into it as it gave a yelp of surprise. It was knocked back a whole foxtail as the she-cat smashed it into the ground, leaving a trail of upturned dirt in her wake. She dug her claws deep into the beast before flashing away with the speed of lightning, leaving large gaping, red gashes down the badger's body.

"Now bleed to death like the mutts you are."

The badger howled in pain as a river of blood splashed from the wounds. But it couldn't save it from its fate. The badger's howls turned to whimpers, before turning to silent yelps as its desperate twitches fell silent. No movement left from the beast.

Squirrelkit was in shock and awe. She did not know what had just happened in front of her. Her mind was racing like thunder and her thoughts waved pass her. Just who was this she-cat in front of her. The white cat turned around to face her as Squirrelkit shivered, but not from fear this time. From respect from the awe-striking stature of her. From the she-cat's brilliant white fur, to her crimson locks and streaks throughout her pelt, to her strength, Squirrelkit looked up to her with eyes of pure adrenaline and awe.

The she-cat looked down at her and blinked, before closing her dark eyes and collapsing from exhaustion. Squirrelkit quickly snapped out of her entrancement and wailed. The she-cat couldn't just die now! Not after everything she had done for her. She hadn't even thanked her!

"She's over here!" A yowl sounded from behind her. She could scent her the patrol coming for her, their smells travelling downwind towards her. She was battered and bruised from her tumble onto the rough ground, her sister, unconscious. They had a lot of answering to do. But more importantly, the she-cat in front of her, collapsed on the ground, having taken a hit from the monster and the badger. Just who was she?

"Squirrelkit! Do you know just how worried we were?!"

Her father. He was grumbling with both annoyance and worry. Squirrelkit sighed internally, she was going to be cooped up in the nursery until she was apprenticed, she just knew it.

_More importantly however_, she looked back over towards her sister and the stranger she-cat, _what's going to happen to them, or rather just her?_

She shook her head and looked back up at her father and the patrol he was leading. Most of them were confused at the situation, especially with the stranger that lay right beneath their paws.

"Who is this?" Her father asked.

Her father, the leader of Thunderclan, the one and only Firestar. Legendary in stature, told in the kit stories, even in other clans. He had to make sure if there were any threats made against his clan. And this cat... Even she could not be sure at this point whether she was to be trusted or not.

But she knew she had saved her life. And she was hurt and in pain. Exhausted and unconscious. It would not be fair for her, a she-cat that had risked her life for her and her sister, to be treated in any other way than respect. She had opened Squirrelkit's eyes to the first taste of the true outside world, one beyond the bramble walls of the camp, keeping the danger and deadliness at bay. Whether she was friend or foe, from another clan or a loner or a rogue. She had saved her.

"She saved us." She murmured under her breath, looking up to her father with shimmering eyes of clear tears, "She saved us."

Her father sighed, looking over to the corpse of the badger and widening his eyes at such a feat that was killing a badger by themselves. He nodded his head, gesturing for the others on patrol to bring them back, the stranger she-cat included. The patrol nodded, padding forward to collect the unconscious bodies of Leafkit and the stranger. Leafkit had already fallen asleep, exhaustion, adrenaline and fear taking a toll on her. The stranger, however, was lighter than she put on.

"Wow she is light." Dustpelt widened his eyes at the surprising ease of her weight.

Squirrelkit pondered over this fact, she did seem like she was flying before in that fight with the badger. And her brutality… Just who was this she-cat?

She felt her body turn to feathers as she was lifted up by her father's strong jaws. His comforting scent wafted through the air as they began their journey back to the camp.

"You did something pretty dumb you know." He mumbled through her fur, "What would have happened if we weren't here in time, or that strange she-cat for that fact."

Squirrelkit didn't have the energy to respond, all she wanted to do for the rest of the day was snuggle up in her mother's fur and drink in the scent that were her parent's comforting smell. Her father sighed, a smile creeped across his face. The last thing Squirrelkit saw before her drooping eyes could close was the overshadowing bramble walls of the camp from where she had begun this adventure.

It was indeed and adventure. It was indeed a discovery. A smile to match her father's spread across her face as she dozed off into the darkness, the exhaustion of the day finally weighing down on her as she fell asleep in her father's jaws.

She was oblivious to the pandora's box she had just opened with this discovery.

* * *

A/N: After a long break I'm back. Don't worry I'm still working on **World Beyond the Wave **so that's something. Anyways let's go.


End file.
